Chicago alderman now opposes his own strip club ordinance

Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune

Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, said he wasn't aware of everything an ordinance he proposed would allow until a Tribune reporter brought it to his attention. "I probably should have paid a lot closer attention to it, but I was distracted by other stuff, like billion-dollar bond deals," he said.

Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, said he wasn't aware of everything an ordinance he proposed would allow until a Tribune reporter brought it to his attention. "I probably should have paid a lot closer attention to it, but I was distracted by other stuff, like billion-dollar bond deals," he said. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

The city aldermen who proposed allowing greater levels of nudity at Chicago strip clubs now opposes his own measure, saying it would make more changes than he wanted.

“It’s different than I originally intended,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd, who added that he was told the amendment he sponsored would not be more lenient on existing clubs. A City Council vote on the measure is expected Wednesday, and Waugespack said it will be close.

The alderman’s proposed changes to the city’s liquor and zoning codes was endorsed in late February by the Zoning Committee with nary a dissent, but an expected vote by the full council was put off in early March after Waugespack’s allies raised some concerns.

Waguespack said the proposal he first submitted was solely aimed at preventing late-night bars from bringing in strippers to attract after-hours business. The amendment would indeed address that issue, which the alderman said has been a problem in his North Side ward, and prevent the conversion of adult book stores and move theaters into strip joints.

But the amendment — which he said was altered after he submitted it in ways he did not at first fully understand — also would allow strip clubs serving alcohol to feature completely topless performers, something that is not allowed under current rules. Full nudity still would only be allowed at clubs that don’t serve booze.

There are at most eight legitimate strip clubs in Chicago, and only one — VIP’s, A Gentleman’s Club, on the Near North Side —now serves alcohol, city officials said. Mayor Rahm Emanuel last year accepted a $2.5 million settlement from VIP’s in a case involving a long-running dispute over how much skin could be exposed at the club.

Waguespack said he wasn’t aware of everything the ordinance would allow until a Tribune reporter brought it to his attention. “I probably should have paid a lot closer attention to it, but I was distracted by other stuff, like billion-dollar bond deals,” he said.

Even if the amendment were to pass, there still would be a host of restrictions in place for strip clubs.

If someone sought to open a new club that mixed drinks and partial nudity, it could do so only if it obtained a cabaret license, met strict zoning codes and obtained a special-use permit that would require community hearings. And they would have to be 1,000 feet from homes, schools and houses of worship and outside what's known as a planned manufacturing district.

When the Zoning Committee endorsed the ordinance, Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, said “a world-class city like Chicago in terms of entertainment ought to have realistic kinds of adult entertainment venues that don’t create a problem in the neighborhood.”

Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, who voted to defer the measure at the last council meeting, disagreed. “It’s not good for a world-class city to have this,” said Fioretti, who added that he would vote against the measure Wednesday.